Victory and Woe

The Centenary Classics series examines the fascinating time of change and evolution in the Ireland of 100 years ago during the 1913-23 revolutionary period. Each volume is a first-hand account of individuals or events during this turbulent time. They are each introduced by leading experts and academics in the field - giving a contemporary analysis of the original text - while a general series introduction by Fearghal McGarry sets the scene of the dawn of Irish independence. Victory and Woe is an account of life at the grassroots during the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War by the Officer Commanding, 2nd Battalion, West Limerick Brigade of the Irish Volnteers. Mossie Harnett (1893-1977), who fought on the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War, describes his early life on a farm in Tournafulla in the southwest corner of Limerick, his enrolment in the Irish Volunteers in 1915, and his involvement in the conflict until his release from a Free State prison in 1923. In an appendix, the British troops' little-known and short-lived practice of taking hostages in order to protect themselves is vividly described by Mossie's cousin, Dr Edward Harnett, who was taken hostage in spring 1921. An introduction by Harnett's son-in-law, James H. Joy, places his father-in-law's text in the context of the revolutionary period. Book jacket.